The holiday season is great; a time to get together with your
loved ones to eat, drink and be sociable. A time for sharing
memories and creating new experiences. A time to be with,
and think of others…
That’s all behind us now though, and if you’re anything
like me, the moment January 1st hits, you’re pretty much
done with other people for another year. Time to shut
yourself in that windowless basement studio and work on
those kick drum transients in peaceful solitude.
There’s no better time to give your production skills an
overhaul, which is where this bumper Make Better Music
issue comes in. From sound design ideas to mixing skills
and artist advice, we’ve got plenty of fresh techniques for
you to try. Dig in and make 2019 the year you make your
best tracks ever.

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5

Contents | This Issue

FM | CONTENTS

40

IN THE STUDIO WITH: Trevor Jackson
A kingpin of the electronic music world
for nearly three decades, Trevor Jackson
has helped launch more esteem-worthy
careers than some people have had hot
dinners. FM caught up with him in his
London studio

6

This Issue | Contents

82
96

100
90

60

INTERVIEW: Ectomorph
BMG and Erika let us in on the secrets
behind their raw, hardware-powered
take on the Detroit techno sound

REVIEW: Steinberg Cubase 10 Pro
We find out what’s new in the world of Cubase
as the DAW hits version 10

88 86

Modular Monthly
FEEDBACK Modules
1BIT Multitap Delay

74

INCLUDES VIDEOl

The Explainer
Modulation effects

7

Contents
The
Vault | This
YourIssue
Bonus Content

FM | FILESILO

Your bonus
content…

filesilo.co.uk/futuremusic
This issue’s bonus samples, videos,
audio and bonus archive samples are
all available to access via FileSilo. At
the link above, log in or register, then
unlock over 10GB of goodies!

Sample Packs

Exclusive new sounds with every issue
groove criminals present…

Broken Piano

We’re kicking off 2019 with a
double-bill celebrating the humble
piano. First up, a pack of ‘prepared’
and modified loops, multis and FX.

For part two we get creative with
the effect units for a bundle of
extreme, reworked one-shots
dripping in reverb and modulation.

PLUS

ACCESS THE FM SAMPLE ARCHIVE!

Download the ‘Sample Archive’ packs and get over 10GB of loops, hits and
instruments from our back catalogue of high-quality and royalty-free samples.
From vintage synths and beats to esoteric sounds and FX – think of it as our best
of. All the samples you need to create great music!

8

48
INCLUDES VIDEOl

THE TRACK: Afrodeutsche, WASP –
Henrietta Smith-Rolla takes us into her
Manchester studio

This Issue | Contents

28

FEATURE: Creative Sound Design
Take your music to the next level with our
guide to creating ear-catching sounds

70

INTERVIEW: Clouds
The Scottish duo give us an insight into
the dystopian soundscapes of new LP
Heavy The Eclipse

12 20
16 68

14

features

Expert tips, techniques
and tutorials

48

20 Classic Album:
Danny Byrd, Supersized

55 Producerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guide:
Mix better!

26 Album Reviews

66 Q&A: Pig & Dan

28 Creative Sound
Design Tips

74 Explainer:
Modulation effects

40 Trevor Jackson

110 Gear Guide

The Track:
Afrodeutsche

FILTER

Find us online at
www.futuremusic.co.uk

Watch our videos
www.youtube.com/
futuremusicmagazine

All the latest gear from
around the world
12 Arturia Pigments
14 NanoStudio 2

Follow us on Twitter
@futuremusicmag

15 SampleTank 4
16 Essential artist tips
20 Classic Album:
Danny Byrd

Join us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/
futuremusicmagazine
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Contents | This Issue

BONUS samples

See this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s selection of free demos at filesilo.co.uk/futuremusic

Arturia have released their first (mostly) original synth
plugin. Let’s find out what it’s got to offer

B

efore their analogue Brute
range was ever released
into the wild, French brand
Arturia made their name in
the realm of software synthesis. With
their ever growing – and still excellent
– V Collection range, Arturia have
turned in emulations of many of the
most famous electronic instruments
of all time, including the Minimoog
Model D, Oberheim Matrix 12, ARP
2600 and tons more.
Going into 2019, Arturia have
something new on their hands:
Pigments, a fully-featured softsynth
that (at least for the most part) isn’t
an emulation of something that’s
come before. With a multi-part synth
engine, sequencer and lots of creative
tools, there’s a lot going on in this
latest synth powerhouse.
We’ve been getting hands-on, so
let’s take a whistle-stop tour of our
favourite elements...

Wavetables

9000

Wavetable synths are everywhere
these days – from plugins like Serum
to hardware instruments such as the
Polyend-powered Medusa, and even
in the stock tools of DAWs such as

12

Live and Logic. Guess what?
Pigments is another addition to the
wavetable party.
In many ways, Pigments’
wavetable capabilities are pretty
similar to its powersynth plugin rivals,
but there’s plenty of depth here,
coupled with sleek implementation.
Naturally, users can modulate
wavetable position and there’s an
impressive set of tools on offer to do
so (see below). Pigments has a neat
Morph mode too, which affects how
smooth or abrupt changes between
wavetable positions are.
There’s an excellent stock of
wavetables onboard as well, with
classic synth samples, real-world
instruments and esoteric sounds all
covered. Users can upload their own
wavetables too, to expand the sound
set. The wavetable engine is
equipped for an assortment of
modulation synthesis techniques too,
with both linear and exponential FM
on offer, as well as phase modulation,
phase distortion and wavefolding.
Arturia have paired Pigments’
wavetable engine with a threeoscillator virtual analogue. As you’d
expect, given their history of
emulations, this sounds great, and
pairing the two elements together
gives Pigments its unique character.
There are two synth slots and the two
engine types can be used in any